This is very good discussion. Certainly, there will be a lot of questions that will be answered as time progresses, and not before that.
There is also going to be a lot of pain and sacrifice on the part of the members. You don't get anything for free. The cost of a strong union is paid by the members. It remains to be seen if they will continue to be willing to pay it.
If you signed on to Wolf Creek just to get that one hit at $40/hr and go right to work for the non-union companies after that, your union will not survive. Maybe there will be a small niche for the few who stick it out. They will continue to make the big bucks on the few jobs as backup contracts. The end-of-year total compensation may be no better than they are getting now, but will come from fewer weeks of work at fewer places.
For the individual tech, this is a small opportunity. Thirty-four people will, for a short while, get what they have been seeking for a long time. But, for the profession as a whole, this is small potatoes at this point. One employer, with half of a contract, is a good start and nothing more. To keep it going and growing, the individual techs will have to make a commitment. They will have to face the prospect of no work for a while. Standing firm often means standing in a lonely, exposed place. Standing firm together makes a big difference, but you have to rely on others to join you in your resolve. Can you? Will your brothers and sisters be willing to stand with you, or will they all look out for themselves? If your union allows them to remain in good standing while they work for the non-union shops, it is only breaking its own back.
If the NPUA is a good thing -- and I am not denying that it could be -- you have to commit to it wholly or it won't last. It is too early at this point to know who will do that. It is too soon to know if it is all true. The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating.
Let's have this talk again in December. Lets see how many of the 34 are still on the team and how many have joined them.
Of course Bartlett and Atlantic have wanted nothing to do with this. That is no news. They haven't had a reason to engage the NPUA in discussions. First of all, because their employees have not signed the cards to begin the process, and secondly because they don't have much to fear at this point from a startup outfit. Give them a reason to want to be involved. If they start losing work because they have no employees to staff their contracts, they have a few options to fix that. One of which will be to negotiate the return of their best techs. But if this is only a temporary setback they will not enter into a permanent solution. Only the techs decide whether this is temporary or permanent. If you want to get Bartlett and Atlantic to take you seriously, you need to take away their other options. Right now, they have plenty of those. They can sit and wait for their people to return. They can grow their employee database by hiring and training new people. They can offer a better product than their unionized competition. They can negotiate with NPUA. Or, they can do any and all of the above.
If you have a lock on the most, best-trained, best-performing technicians, you take away all other options and they have to play at your level or quit. On the other hand, if you have a tenuous hold on a few techs who are only in it for the money, they'll eat your lunch for you.
All this is why I have been so skeptical about this venture. Right now, the ENTIRE discussion is about numbers of people and the price that it will take to get those numbers. It has to be about quality. A premium product demands a premium price. Bulk quantities are always sold at a discount. Decide once and for all which you are offering and stand on that.
If you are a member of this union, give the best you have to offer and demand it from your co-workers. They represent you, and you represent them. Make yourself worth the higher price and you will continue to get what you are willing to earn.
But, if you think for a minute that you "deserve" the better pay and treatment while you continue to perform at the level of the current tech population, get a clue.
